NEW: Pentagon Contradicts Trump As Democrats Revolt Against Schumer
Trump Lifts Iran Sanctions; Pentagon Plans a Ground War; Senate Democrats Revolt; New Epstein Info Shocks The Conscience
Good morning.
Trump has lifted decades-old sanctions on Iranian oil to try to cool a crisis his own generals warned him was coming, and experts say the move could hand Iran up to $14 billion to fund its war against us. The Pentagon is actively planning a ground war in Iran while Trump tells reporters he has no such plans. Senate Democrats are in open revolt over Chuck Schumer’s leadership, with a “Fight Club” of progressive senators quietly working to push him out. And newly unearthed FBI documents show that six days after Jeffrey Epstein’s death, a Bureau of Prisons team shredded massive amounts of paperwork at the jail where he died, using inmates to haul bags of documents to the dumpster.
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Trump Lifts Iran Sanctions to Fight a Crisis He Was Warned About
The Treasury Department announced Friday that it is lifting decades-old sanctions on 140 million barrels of Iranian oil that have already left the Strait of Hormuz. The move is designed to relieve pressure on global oil supplies caused by Iran’s closure of the strait, a crisis Trump’s own generals warned him about repeatedly before he launched the war on February 28th.
Experts and lawmakers are struggling to make sense of the decision. By some estimates, the sanctions lift could hand Iran up to $14 billion in revenue, money that will flow directly into its war effort against the United States. “This move directly contradicts Trump’s own statements that the United States is considering winding down this conflict,” one financial risk analyst said. “You don’t unsanction Iranian oil if you’re winding down. This is the action of an administration that has no exit ramp and knows it. The word for that is desperation.”
A senior Iran researcher put it even more bluntly: “The U.S. is funding a war against itself.”
Gas prices for American consumers have already risen about 93 cents per gallon since the war began. U.S. crude oil has surged more than 70 percent since the start of the year. United Airlines CEO Scott Kirby wrote to employees this week that the company is preparing contingency plans assuming oil reaches $175 a barrel and does not return to $100 until the end of 2027.
Before Trump launched this war, Gen. Dan Caine, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, warned the president in multiple briefings that Iran would likely disrupt the Strait of Hormuz in response to a U.S. attack. Trump launched the war anyway. Now he is lifting the sanctions that were supposed to be leverage, in an attempt to contain a crisis that was entirely predictable, because his generals predicted it.
The Pentagon Is Planning a Ground War. Trump Says He Isn’t.
On Thursday, Trump told reporters, “No, I’m not putting troops anywhere.” On Friday night, he posted on Truth Social that the U.S. is “very close to meeting our objectives” and considering “winding down” its military efforts.
Sources say the Pentagon is actively drawing up detailed plans to deploy ground forces into Iran, including elite rapid-response units. Multiple sources briefed on the discussions say the plans include meetings on how to detain Iranian soldiers and where to send them if U.S. troops enter Iranian territory. The 82nd Airborne Division, one of the military’s premier rapid-response units, is among those being considered. Its headquarters abruptly canceled a training exercise earlier this month.
Amphibious warships carrying roughly 4,000 service members, including about 2,500 Marines, left California this week aboard three vessels. Additional amphibious groups are en route, bringing the total expected deployment to as many as 8,000 personnel, equipped with F-35 fighter jets and amphibious assault vehicles capable of supporting a ground offensive.
When asked about the planning, the Pentagon said only that it had “nothing to announce regarding pending or future deployments.” The White House said it was simply the Pentagon’s job to give the president “maximum optionality.”
Trump said he is not putting troops anywhere. The 82nd Airborne canceled its training exercise. Eight thousand Marines and soldiers are heading to the region. One source described the White House’s thinking on Iran’s main oil export island this way: “If he has to take Kharg Island to make it happen, that’s going to happen.” The president can say whatever he wants to reporters. The ships are already moving.
Senate Democrats Are in Open Revolt Over Schumer
A growing group of Senate Democrats has been quietly working to push Minority Leader Chuck Schumer out of his leadership position, and the effort is now significant enough that some senators have been conducting informal vote counts to see if they have the numbers to remove him.
Senator Chris Murphy of Connecticut acknowledged at a dinner with progressive activists in February that some colleagues had been doing those counts. Murphy said Schumer retained enough support to keep his position, but the fact that the conversation was happening at all marks a significant moment for the Democratic caucus.
Senators Elizabeth Warren and Tina Smith are among those who have been most active in raising concerns and gauging frustration with Schumer’s leadership. A group of progressive senators maintains a Signal chat where members have discussed how to counter Schumer’s preferred candidates in key primary races. The group has been described by those familiar with the situation as “Fight Club.” Schumer is seen by this group as favoring centrist candidates in must-win states including Michigan, Minnesota, and Maine, and as an impediment to a more aggressive posture against the Trump administration.
The frustrations have deep roots. During last fall’s lengthy government shutdown, Schumer reportedly told Warren that no one was negotiating a deal with Republicans, while a separate group of centrist Democrats was doing exactly that. Senate staff have taken to calling the experience of being given conflicting information by the leader getting “Schumed.”
Schumer said in an interview that his support in the caucus is “deep and strong” and that he hasn’t heard of any efforts to replace him. He declined to say whether he plans to run for re-election in 2028 or whether he intends to seek another term as leader after November’s midterms.
Democrats are feeling increasingly optimistic about Senate races in North Carolina, Alaska, and Ohio. But some of Schumer’s critics worry that a strong November showing will only convince him to stay, and they want him to commit to stepping aside before the elections happen.
FBI Documents Show Epstein’s Jail Shredded Documents Days After His Death
A newly surfaced FBI report documents claims made by a federal corrections officer who contacted the agency six days after Jeffrey Epstein’s death in August 2019. According to the officer, a Bureau of Prisons “After-Actions team” arrived at the Metropolitan Correctional Center in New York and began shredding massive amounts of paperwork, recruiting at least one inmate to haul bags of shredded documents to a dumpster at the rear of the facility.
“There was a BOP After-Actions team that came, and they are supposed to review what happened,” the FBI report reads, summarizing the officer’s account. The officer told the FBI they found it “suspicious that an after-action team charged with investigating would be shredding huge amounts of paperwork” while FBI agents and inspector general officials were in the building conducting an active investigation. Those directing the inmate during the disposal reportedly said, “Make sure you get that box too.”
The BOP is a subdivision of the Justice Department, which at the time was part of the first Trump administration. That same Justice Department reportedly directed New York Police Department investigators to stand down in their criminal probe into Epstein five days after his death, and also asked New Mexico authorities to halt their own investigation into Epstein’s Zorro Ranch property, which has been identified in a separate FBI tip as the alleged burial site of two foreign girls.
Epstein’s death was ruled a suicide. The shredding of documents during an active investigation, at the direction of a team sent to review that death, has never been fully explained. Attorney General Pam Bondi has already been accused of withholding a significant portion of Epstein files, with sources saying roughly 3.5 million of the 6 million files identified for potential release have been disclosed so far. These new documents add to a long list of questions that the Justice Department has declined to answer.
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Mohammad Nazeer Paktyawal, 41, a father of six who served alongside U.S. Army Special Forces in Afghanistan for over a decade, was detained by ICE officers in Dallas in front of his children as he prepared to drive them to school. He was admitted to Parkland Hospital at 11:45 p.m. on March 13th. By noon the following day, he was dead. Non-profit organization AfghanEvac is calling for an immediate investigation, noting it is “not normal for a healthy 41-year-old man to die within a day of being taken into government custody.” The group is demanding oversight by the DHS Inspector General and Congress. The cause of death remains unknown. His family said in a statement: “His children keep asking when their father will come home.”
Trump’s Own Pick for Labor Stats Chief Warns Economy Can’t Handle the War
E.J. Antoni, chief economist at the Heritage Foundation and a co-author of the Project 2025 manifesto, publicly warned this week that the U.S. economy is not strong enough to absorb $100-a-barrel oil. “The economy is weaker than we thought it was, and inflation is worse than we thought it was,” he told a financial publication. Antoni was Trump’s own pick to lead the Bureau of Labor Statistics before his nomination was withdrawn amid controversy. He warned that the lower energy prices that kept inflation in check through 2025 are now being reversed, with higher energy costs pushing up prices across the entire economy. The warning carries particular weight because it is coming from inside the MAGA policy world, not from critics of the administration. Gas prices have already risen 93 cents per gallon since the war began.
NATO Allies Flat-Out Rejected Trump’s Plea for Military Help in Iran
European allies have largely declined Trump’s repeated requests for military assistance in his Iran war, dealing a significant blow to U.S. efforts to build an international coalition. Senator Lindsey Graham posted and then quickly deleted a message on social media revealing that Trump was “absolutely furious” over the rejections, writing he had “never heard him so angry.” Graham’s post also said the snub made him “second guess the value” of U.S. alliances before he deleted it and reposted a nearly identical version 40 minutes later. Trump responded on Truth Social with a 235-word post declaring the U.S. doesn’t need anyone’s help. Analysts say the lack of allied support leaves American service members bearing the full cost of a conflict with no international legitimacy and no coalition to share the burden.
Mullin Didn’t Know What His Own Department Does. He’s About to Run It.
Senator Markwayne Mullin, Trump’s pick for Homeland Security Secretary, was unable to describe the primary mission of Homeland Security Investigations at his confirmation hearing last week. Senator Ruben Gallego stepped in and answered his own question, explaining that HSI handles human trafficking, smuggling, and financial crime. HSI is ICE’s criminal investigations arm and one of the most consequential law enforcement bodies in the federal government. Reports indicate HSI has already been severely stretched by Trump’s deportation push, with agents spending roughly 33 percent fewer hours on child exploitation cases last spring, and a five-agent child exploitation squad in Los Angeles reassigned to immigration duty. Mullin advanced out of committee on an 8-7 vote, with Democratic Senator John Fetterman providing the deciding margin, and is expected to be confirmed by the full Senate this week.
The Pentagon Spent $11.3 Billion on Bombs in the First Six Days of the Iran War
The Pentagon told lawmakers that the United States spent $11.3 billion in just the first six days of combat operations in Iran, a figure that covers only munitions and does not include troop deployments or ongoing naval operations. To put that number in context, $11.3 billion exceeds the entire annual budget of the EPA, the CDC, and the National Cancer Institute. It also surpasses the full federal allocation for scientific research through the National Science Foundation. The same administration that spent $11.3 billion on bombs in less than a week has proposed cutting the EPA and NSF budgets by more than 50 percent. A Harvard Medical School professor called it “a disturbing prioritization of militarism over the health and welfare of the American public.” The Pentagon is now requesting an additional $200 billion from Congress to continue funding the war.
Looks like another recession, stock market down, fuel and grocery prices up. But he’s in Maralardo this weekend at taxpayers expense, $5 million. 😝
Keep on telling it like it is.
Fortunately I am not among the financially vulnerable but when I think of families who were barely making it before Trump's idiotic self aggrandizing "excursion" and wondering how they will manage now, I feel pure rage.